The Economic Value of FFXIV: A study in utility

[Ehayte]

First, let me just say that I am going to make a few assumptions in this post, and that some of them you are not going to agree with. I gathered data for the most subjective of these values, the Entertainment Intensity figures. I just asked a few friends in-game, a few friends in real life, and a few family members, and took the approximate averages. So this is NOT my intensity table (my own EIntensity values are very different).

I went into this as objectively as possible, with the hypothesis that FFXIV, played in a mid-core style (10 hours / week) was going to be a very good value for the dollars spent. Subjectively, I was correct.

First, I assigned Entertainment Intensity Values to a few different categories of entertainment:

Video Game Stimulation: 4
Watching a movie/television: 2
Being with the opposite sex: 20
Physical Action (Sports): 12
Intoxication: 12

Next, I approximated the number of hours you could expect to be entertained by each of 9 activities that fit into those entertainment categories:

FFXIV: 40 (expressed monthly, as will be cost)
"Hit" new video game: 50
Going to the movies: 2
Buying a new DVD: 14 (over its lifetime)
Going on a date: 2.5
Recreational Softall: 12 (.75 hours per game, 16 games in a season)
Gym membership: 16 (1hr per day 4 days per week, expressed monthly as will be cost)
Drinking: 5
Cannibus: 10

Again, that is how long I would expect your average participant in those activities to be entertained by same. This is a lot more of my own approximation than any actual data gathering.

Then, I assigned a cost to each:

FFXIV: $18.33 ($15/mo + $40/12 for the license purchase spread out over 1 year)
"Hit" new video game: $60
Going to the movies: $10
Buying a new DVD: $20
Dinner and a movie: $75
Recreational Softall: $118 (League fees with a sponsor)
Gym membership: $70 (per month, as stated)
Drinking: $20 (assuming you don't drink piss water AKA US domestic lagers)
Smoking Illicit materials: $20

Pretty reasonable, I would hope.

Now, I made a unit value for each of this, which is the Entertainment Intensity Value multiplied by the hours you can expect to be entertained:

FFXIV: 160
"Hit" new video game: 200
Going to the movies: 4
Buying a new DVD: 28
Dinner and a movie: 50
Recreational Softall: 144
Gym membership: 192
Drinking: 60
Smoking Illicit materials: 120

Now, the fun part.

I calculated the cost per unit of these specific activities, I don't think you will be shocked:

FFXIV: $0.11
"Hit" new video game: $0.30
Going to the movies: $2.50
Buying a new DVD: $0.71
Dinner and a movie: $1.50
Recreational Softall: $0.83
Gym membership: $0.36
Drinking: $0.33
Smoking Illicit materials: $0.17

My conclusion, even if you make adjustments to these numbers, FFXIV is a great value for the dollars, all things considered. Even if I make the following adjustments to FFXIV's metrics:

VoE: 3
Hours/Month: 28
Cost/Month: $18.33

I still get a Cost per unit of $0.22/unit, only our hypothetical pot head comes close to rivaling the dollars per entertainment unit. You can do your own calculations of cost per entertainment unit with the formula:

Cost of Entertainment / (Intensity of Entertainment x Hours of Entertainment)

Just a fun little do-hicky. And something to think about when you complain about there not being enough content for you : D

As a post-script, if you wanted to draw a conclusion from this data, I guess you could say that based on the data gathered and assumptions, the group of people surveyed should spend more time playing FFXIV and less time going on dates!!! Cooties are gross!

[odie]

i believe it. after playing this game i pretty much don't play or buy anything else... its great.

[Morzy]

MMOs keep you busy. I had the same thoughts after playing RuneScape for 6 years with the monthly fee only being $5.

[Ehayte]

i believe it. after playing this game i pretty much don't play or buy anything else... its great.

Right?! You can probably replace FFXIV with any MMO that puts out a reasonable amount of content, but even with a mega-grindy game like Everquest, you were paying $30-$60 extra every 9 months for an expansion on top of your monthly subscription! When you look back at all the content included in 2.0-2.4 its quite a lot that have kept people playing consistently for a sustained period of time.

[Amenian]

I'm more surprised that you find being intoxicated that entertaining. Ah well, maybe I'm just a crotchety old man.

[Ehayte]

I'm more surprised that you find being intoxicated that entertaining. Ah well, maybe I'm just a crotchety old man.

I don't, the intensity levels were a survey of about 15 people.

[ApolloGenX]

Wait... 5 hours a month for drinking? That is like maybe one night....

There is also just hanging out with friends, having dinner, doing things you normally do... that doesn't really cost anything extra and is LOTS of fun....

[Morzy]

@ApolloGenX Or they[since this was a survey of people, not himself] save the 5 hours to have fun with friends a few nights out of the month.

[Ehayte]

Wait... 5 hours a month for drinking? That is like maybe one night....

There is also just hanging out with friends, having dinner, doing things you normally do... that doesn't really cost anything extra and is LOTS of fun....

Those are not monthly figures, they are hours per cost. Meaning, in my estimation its going to take about $20 to get you drunk for 5 hours. The gym membership and FFXIV are monthly as you pay monthly, everything else is the lifetime of that dollar amount of that activity.

As per doing other things . . . Dinner costs you money to buy the food, and costs you time to prepare it. As for hanging out with friends, I suppose if you are treading water in international waters without any clothes on it costs you nothing. You would have to include things like electricity to have the lights on, taxes to pay for the park you are sitting in, etc. Of course I didn't include all of those minor costs or all activities. I'm not trying to see this is a legit study, just something fun to think about!

[ApolloGenX]

You would have to include things like electricity to have the lights on, taxes to pay for the park you are sitting in, etc. Of course I didn't include all of those minor costs or all activities. I'm not trying to see this is a legit study, just something fun to think about!

All those costs should be included in gaming then, along with internet connection.

That's why the cost of watching TV seems to have been dropped. You can get entertainment out of that with your internet connection without the sub fee... so I'm not sure why it wasn't included. You can download movies as well.

I get where you are going, but I think the cost figures are a bit biased.

I wouldn't dispute it's cheap entertainment... but the quality is fairly low comparatively. Vacations can be relatively expensive, but the quality of entertainment is so much higher that the incremental cost is outweighed by the superior quality and satisfaction received.

There is also the issue of opportunity cost... the value of the savings is worth more or less depending on your income. I prefer to spend money going to Europe than on an MMO sub.... why? Because I have the money to spend, and spending it on mediocre entertainment seems like a waste. I would rather not spend 13 dollars on something mediocre, regardless of whether I have the money for it.